Freefall
by Kristen Heitzmann
Published by Bethany House (November 2006 Release)
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Reviewed by Laura V. Hilton
When a young woman stumbles out of the Hanalei Mountains on the island of Kauai with no memory of who she is or how she got there, Monica takes her in, feeling she has no choice. It is her destiny to care for stragglers. She calls her older friend, Okelani, who diagnoses fear and malice. The diagnoses confuse Monica, who could recognize confusion and disorientation. The stranger refuses to contact the authorities and doesn't want medical help.
Monica dubs the stranger Jade, because of the color of her eyes, and agrees to not take any drastic measures, but she does contact her brother, Cameron Pierce, a Hawaiian investigator. It soon becomes apparent that Jade's injuries were not an accident.
When Jade begins to recall pieces of her past, a dark truth emerges and they soon come to realize that sinister forces are stalking Jade. Will Cameron be able to help Jade fight the rising terror?
Heitzmann is a hit-or-miss author with me--and Freefall is a miss. While the setting sounds beautiful and the writing is stellar, this story did not engage my interest. I couldn't bring myself to care about Jade or even to wonder who or why someone was after her.
There is a faith message in Freefall, and it is expertly woven in. There is also plenty of suspense, action, intrigue, romance, and betrayal, which should be enough to keep the pages turning. The problem may lie with the characterization...or maybe because we didn't have a chance to care about the character before everything started going wrong.
Armchair Interviews says: If you are a suspense fan, or love Heitzmann's previous writings, you might want to give Freefall a try.